The most common practice in ice-skate sharpening is the presentation of a blade by hand to a rotating grinding wheel. To obtain good control of blade curvature, while using this technique, requires a great deal of care and skill on the part of the operator. The number of skilled operators is small; consequently, less-than-satisfactory sharpening is a common result.
There have been some attempts to simplify skate-sharpening procedures by improving skate-sharpening machinery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,551 discloses a device for establishing and controlling the desired longitudinal contour of an ice skating blade. The skate holder is mounted on a carriage and moved past a rotary grinder. This device does use an indexing mechanism for adjusting the position of the skate blade on the holder to obtain a predetermined skate-to-ice tangency point.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,551 may represent the art most pertinent to the subject invention described hereinafter. However, the apparatus described therein is rather complex; it uses 2 templates to guide the skate during the sharpening process. At least one template change must be made to modify the radius. Moreover, that device requires a reclamping of the skate in the clamp to change the "high point" or tangency of the skate blade. This movement, height adjustment of the skate, and a singlepoint diamond cutting tool all make this known apparatus one which requires a high degree of operator competence and responsibility.
Other ice-skate sharpening devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,828 wherein a skate is used as a guide for sharpening another skate. Numerous other devices have been disclosed in the art and these include such devices as cited in various U.S. Patents classified in Art Classes 51-100 and 51-228 of the Manual of Classification of the United States Patent Office.
The instant inventor has directed his efforts to development of a superior machine. None of the above devices offer the combination of versatility, convenience of operation, and freedom from maintenance problems which is possessed by the apparatus of the present invention.